Stone Sentinel: A Beautiful Monsters Story (BeMo Vol. 3.5)
Page 9
Fine.
Jet lowered himself and crept forward. Coming around some boxes, he saw her. Asper. Curled up and unmoving.
In front of her, six other gargoyles. These ones smaller than a human’s hand.
Only a few days old.
Her pups.
His babies.
Asper—who humans often described as ‘terrifying’—flicked her eyes open. Jet sank his back even lower as he took another few steps towards her. He dropped the rock from his mouth and pushed it at her with his nose.
Jet sunk down to the ground and waited.
She stood, stretching her wings behind her, sniffed the rock, then ate it.
Hard-Amethyst, she whispered through the stones, looking at Tarrick.
“Asper,” Tarrick said, “if I had known you were pregnant—if I had known gargoyles could even get pregnant—I would have prepared a place nicer than this for you.”
For a gargoyle, this place was nice.
“That’s six. Can we play with them now?”
Asper nuzzled Jet a few times before lying back down. She pushed one of his sons towards him. Jet sprung to his feet and began sniffing and licking each one of them. They began to wake and wiggle. Fate-Pebble couldn’t hold back anymore. She rushed forward and picked one up. A daughter, with tiny wings and a fierce face, squirmed in her hands.
Joy filled Jet’s being.
He and his mate had brought six new protectors into the world.
An amused scoff came from Tarrick as some realization dawned on him. “This is why you didn’t want to sleep with me?”
Asper cocked her head.
I will explain later, Jet whispered.
“That’s not any of your business, you nosy incubus,” Fate-Pebble said. She was sitting down now and had babies crawling all over her.
Jet admired his stone for standing up to the Warlord.
“It’s nearly sunrise,” Tarrick said.
“Just a few more minutes…look at their little horns. So cute.” Fate-Pebble showed no sign that she intended to leave. When the sun rose, and her body slumped over as she shut down, Tarrick gently removed the babies from her, placing them by Asper, and picked Fate-Pebble up.
“Staying?” he asked Jet.
No. Asper wanted to rest, and she wouldn’t tolerate company for much longer tonight.
They returned to Tarrick’s room, where he lay Fate-Pebble on his bed. Jet curled up beside her.
A few moments later, Tarrick’s phone rang.
“Sir,” the operator said when he answered, “you have seven missed calls from Warlord Bryson and he’s on hold now, should I put him through?”
“When is sunrise there?”
“Three hours from now, sir.”
“Tell him I’m busy.”
Tarrick hung up and went about doing Warlord things, with computers and reports. Jet actually wasn’t really sure what Tarrick was doing but it looked important.
Three hours later, Tarrick checked the time on his watch and stood, straightening out his suit.
Was he headed to a meeting?
“This should be interesting,” Tarrick said, standing tall in the center of his room, waiting on something. Or someone.
A thunderous boom shook the fort’s stones and rattled the windows.
“Where is he?” someone asked elsewhere in the fort.
“Sir—”
“Now.”
Tarrick clasped his hands calmly behind his back.
His doors flung open and Devak stood there.
He burned bright and Jet had to look away.
Tarrick sunk to his left knee. “Pleasure Guardian.”
“Do you have any idea how agitated Matthew is right now?”
Tarrick looked over at Fate-Pebble, who slept peacefully. “Yes. She’s unharmed and will be returned as soon as the sun sets tomorrow night. I’m planning to accompany her.”
Devak grew brighter but said nothing for a few moments. Until, “That’s not necessary.”
“No?”
The room became eerily silent as some sort of unspoken communication happened between the two men Rage-Boulder loved. What did Fate-Pebble call it? A peeing contest? Something like that.
“If he’s going to finish his transformation, he needs what only I can do to him,” Tarrick said, breaking the standoff.
“‘What I can do to him’,” Devak repeated. “What you do to him is—”
“Spare me the list. I’ve had enough of that from the oracle.”
“Do you know why I keep him as far away from you as possible?”
“Jealousy.”
“No, Tarrick. Other lovers have never bothered me. I keep you away because everything I do is to exalt him and everything you do is to exalt yourself.”
“That’s not true. I do all this to protect my people.”
“I was Malarath’s mate and I serve Ilertha, do you think I can’t tell when an incubus is lying? Your actions are motivated purely by self-interest, and you won’t stop until everyone is calling you ‘Your Majesty’. Matthew’s love is a gift, and you are unworthy of it. I hope one day he sees that. But…” Devak paused, looking down at Tarrick. “I’m only his servant. It’s not my choice. You’re right: he needs what only you can do to him.” Devak turned to leave, pausing to say, “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
After Devak left, Tarrick stayed kneeling for a while, lost in thought.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“You look good, Warlord. Stop fidgeting.” Fate-Pebble knocked Tarrick’s hand away from his cufflink.
Jet, Fate-Pebble, the Wardens, and Tarrick all stood in the room with the leystone, preparing to teleport.
“You’re an extremely aggravating child.”
“And you’re a grumpy old man. But seriously, he’s probably going to rip the suit off the moment he sees you anyways. Stop stressing.”
“I am not stressing.”
Silva snorted behind him.
He shot her a glance and she straightened. “Ready to go, sir?”
“Almost,” Fate-Pebble said before Tarrick could respond. She crouched down by Jet and hugged him goodbye. “Have fun with your babies.”
Jet would. He had decided to stay behind for a little bit. He and Asper could use some time together. And, quite frankly, Jet wanted time away from fleshlings to recharge. Rage-Boulder would be okay without him for a while and Fate-Pebble would be watched over. Her boyfriend probably wouldn’t let her out of his sight after what she pulled. And then there’d be days of make-up sex once he forgave her. Jet could do without seeing that…and he’d much rather use the time to get to know his children.
“We did it,” she whispered in his ear. “We saved Christmas from Krampus.” She released Jet and looked at Tarrick. “From the evil, grumpy Krampus who finally agreed to help my father.”
“I’m hardly Krampus, Oracle.”
“If you say so.”
“Let’s go before I get another ten phone calls from Warlord Bryson complaining that his stronghold is being ripped apart by an enraged demigod looking for his child.”
She grabbed his hand. He seemed surprised but didn’t pull away. “Tarrick?”
“Yes?”
“Call me Sam.”
With a flash of green, the group was gone.
****
Dear BeMos,
I didn’t plan to write this story; it wasn’t on the schedule. But a few months ago, Jet, Samantha, and Tarrick told me they needed to save the holidays from Krampus and wouldn’t shut up about it. (Tarrick rarely shuts up anyway. Demanding incubus.)
So, I paused the Ashwood book I was working on to get this on paper. Because it’s short, doesn’t have any explicit sex on page (although Tarrick sure whipped it out a bunch, huh?), and is told from a different POV than Matthew’s, I was a little nervous about moving forward with the project. In the end, I’m glad I did. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
On behalf of Tarrick, Samantha, and Jet:
Happy Holidays.
Matthew and Devak would send along their well wishes but they’re both engaged in other activates at the moment. ;)
With love,
Jex
December 2017
P.S. I know the wait for Blood Prince is a longer than anyone (including me) wants, but hang in there, epic stuff is coming next year.
****
Matthew, Devak, Tarrick, Samantha, and Jet will return in Blood Prince: Beautiful Monsters Vol. 4.
Meet the cadet hunters of Ashwood Red in early 2018.
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About the Author
I enjoy writing about hidden worlds full of vampire hunters, epic battles, steamy sex, and, of course, beautiful monsters. Connect with me on Facebook and say hi! I don’t bite…I let my vampires do that for me.
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